Crime SuspenStories #14

Credits:
Cover dated December 1952/January 1953
Cover by Johnny Craig

"Sweet Dreams!" - Art by Johnny Craig/Story by Johnny Craig
"The Perfect Place!" - Art by Jack Kamen/Story by Al Feldstein & Bill Gaines
"The Electric Chair"/"The Hangman's Noose"/"The Guillotine!" - Art by Fred Peters/Story by Al Feldstein & Bill Gaines
"Private Performance" - Art by Graham Ingels/Story by Al Feldstein & Bill Gaines

"Sweet Dreams!" - A man is getting annoyed with his wife, who is obsessed with her inability to sleep. When she gets a new set of sleeping pills from her doctor, the man plans on killing her by pouring too many into her drink. She reveals that she spotted him doing so however, and switched cups, getting him to drink it. In a rage, he smuthers her to death with a pillow. The man wakes up, revealing it to all be a dream, but finds his wife dead next to him. He calls the doctor in, claiming she overdosed from the sleeping pills. The doctor reveals that she was a chronic hypochondriac and was given sugar pills, and reports him for murder. Johnny Craig puts in a usual strong art effort although I wasn't much of a fan of the story.

"The Perfect Place!" - A writer named Ernie plans to murder his wife June after becoming successful and falling in love with another writer. Ernie buys a secluded house from a man named Jess who claims his wife left him a few years ago. Ernie brings June out to the house and murders her. He hides her body by bricking her up behind a wall in the basement. On his way out however the sheriff comes by with Jess, who has admitted to murdering his wife and hiding her in the basement, just like what Ernie did to his wife. As a result, June's body is found and Ernie is found guilty of murder. This story seems to be inspired in part by "The Black Cat" by Edgar Allen Poe, which featured a murdered wife being hidden behind a brick wall just like in this story. "The Black Cat" had been adapted by EC earlier in the story "The Wall" from the Haunt of Fear #15 (aka #1).

"The Electric Chair/The Hangman's Noose/The Guillotine!" - This story features three tellings of the same tale, taking place in America, England and France. In each the protagonist comes across his wife in the arms of another man. Based on the variation, he kills either the wife, the lover or both. He is set to be executed for his crimes (either the electric chair in America, via hanging in England or the guillotine in France) but escapes on the day of his execution. By trying to escape via the subway system, the protagonist still ends up dying in similar fashion to his planned execution, either by being electrocuted on the third rail, being strangled by getting his tie stuck in a subway door, or being decapitated by the subway car. This is one of several "EC Quickies" that appeared around this time in either Crime SuspenStories or Weird Fantasy. The EC Quickies was an interesting gimmick that they used for a short enough period such that it didn't come off as overused to me. It was used a total of 7 times, primarily in Crime SuspenStories. Along with "Cutting Cards" from Tales from the Crypt #32, this is the only artwork Fred Peters did for EC during the new trend.

"Private Performance" - A crook breaks into a mansion so as to steal from a safe inside. While doing so he hears an argument amongst the elderly husband and wife who own the house. The husband, in a rage, bashes his wife's head in with a small statuette while arguing about being the 'greatest' and 'tops'. The old man spots the crook and chases him around the house. The crook, finding the front door locked, makes his way to the cellar where he hopes to hide in a chest. The old man soon comes down and locks him in the chest. The crook spots a poster on the wall revealing that the old man was a magician responsible for a human pin cushion illusion and he soon finds himself being struck with swords that the old man plunges into the chest. A pretty good story to end the issue, although I do wonder how the crook wasn't able to overpower a man who was probably more than twice his age.